Food Not Lawns: growing your own yard

Every year, 58 million Americans spend approximately $30 billion to maintain over 23 million acres of lawn, using more pesticides per acre than agriculture. According to Heather Flores, author of Food Not Lawns, the water consumed by U.S. lawns- 270 gallons/week- could support “81 million acres of organic vegetables, all summer long”.

Perhaps its time to rethink the American yard. There are increasingly more groups- like Food Not Lawns, Edible Estates, locavores, 100 mile diet- urging homeowners to mow less and plant more.

In this video, Heather Flores- co-founder of the grassroots gardening group Food Not Lawns- took us for a tour of some more guerrilla gardens of Eugene, Oregon.